Women in the
Martial Arts
Women in the
Martial Arts
I decide to add a page for women (and their friends) as we get so many enquiries from women. Most enquiries to date have been related to finding good martial art and kickboxing clubs to train with. There are thousands of martial art clubs in the UK now, but not all seem to welcome women. So how do you find the right one for you?
Finding
clubs:
1) Check
with your local library - the reference section will often have
addresses of local martial art and sports clubs
2) Read
the yellow pages, more clubs are starting to advertise now
3) Visit
or phone your local sports and community centres
4) Ask friends
and family
5) Obviously,
you are already checking the internet.....
Finding a selection of local clubs, offering a selection of martial arts, will be probably be easy (unless you live somewhere remote) - the tricky thing is picking the right one for you. Not all styles of martial art / types of club / instructors will be right for you. some may not treat you (or anyone else for that matter) with respect / appropriate care / appropriate attitude.
So, what then?
First, decide
what you want from martial arts training:
Do you want
to improve your fitness?
Are you
mainly interested in self-defence?
Do you want
to try something new and meet new people?
Are you
looking for a weekly activity? or a way of life?
Do you want
to enter competitions and/or test for higher ranks in a system?
Do you have
other reasons for trying out martial arts?
When you know
why you want to do it, you'll be in a better position to decide
which art(s) to try.
Styles
of martial art
There are
literally thousands of different styles of martial art available,
and they can be sub-divided in many ways, e.g.
1) those
who wear uniforms versus those who do not
2) those
who insist that students 'grade' versus those who do not
3) those
who claim that their art is the ultimate form of self-defence
versus those with more common sense
4) those
who insist that students enter competitions versus those who do
not
5) those
who consider themselves 'traditional' versus those who consider
themselves more modern or non-traditional
6) those
who insist you train with them and only them versus those who
accept your right to find out what suits you best
Female savateurs in action!
Names
you may hear:
Boxing
- a combat sport most people have heard of
Kickboxing
- mainly sport, various types available including Savate (french), Muay Thai (thai!),
American (based usually on karate)
Kali - filipino art, involving empty-hand and
weapon training
Arnis -
filipino art, see Kali
Escrima
- filipino art, see Kali
Combat Sombo - russian military fighting art, emphasizing
strikes, throws, holds, locks and more
Sombo Wrestling
- the sporting version of Sombo, emphasizing throws, not unlike
judo
Wrestling
- many types from different countries, including freestyle, Greco-Roman
and many others
Jeet Kune
Do - Bruce Lee's interpretation of the way forward in martial
arts
Jun Fan
- see Jeet Kune Do (Jun Fan was Bruce Lee's chinese name)
Kung Fu
- chinese martial arts - many types including Wing Chun, Wushu,
Shaolin and hundreds more
Silat -
a family of martial arts from the far east - indonesia, philippines,
malaya......
Karate -
japanese empty-hand systems, emphasizing striking skills
Judo - japanese
sport, emphasizing throws and holds
Aikido -
japanese, traditional art, emphasizing locks and throws
Ju-jitsu
- japanese traditional art, including strikes, locks, throws,
and sometimes grappling
Hapkido
- korean martial art, emphasizing locking and striking
Taekwondo
- korean martial art emphasizing kicking
Tang Soo
Do - korean martial art, a bit like Taekwondo
Good
Instructors
Will respect
you, encourage you and guide you towards your goal.
Other
women students
If you want
an idea of how a woman will get on in a particular martial arts
club or style, see what proportion of students are female, and
how long they have been training. Do women stay? Do they progress?
Are they happy with their classes? How do they get on with the
instructors? Are there any female instructors?
Self-defence
Some people
use the terms martial art and self-defence interchangeably. BUT,
they are not the same thing. In self-defence, you may use some
physical skills that you have learnt in the martial arts or other
situations (fighting with brothers, sisters or friends, playground
or street fighting, close-quarter combat or military training),
however, the emphasis of self-defence should be using awareness
and forward-planning to avoid risky situations. Good self-defence
instructors will also cover training in assertive communication,
body language, and personal space, as well as legal issues.
Governing
bodies
Some martial
arts have Governing Bodies in this country, some of these are
recognised by the Sports Council, some are not. Just because an
art/or martial art club is not recognised by the Sports Council
does not mean it is bad - it simply may not have enough members
yet for recognition. Just because an art/or martial art club is
recognized by the Sports Council does not mean it is good for
you or your purposes - you have to use your common sense and trust
your instincts. Just because a group chooses to call itself the
'whatever Governing Body', doesn't guarantee that it actually
is a recognised governing body, you'd have to check that with
the Sports Council! (Some groups have really impressive names,
like 'world council' or 'global federation', but there's really
nobody who can verify that kind of claim).
What
to do if you're not sure
Ask if you
can watch a class
Speak to
the students before or after a class
Ask some
questions
Find out
if you can do a short trial before committing yourself to long-term
membership/buying uniforms or equipment
Trust your
instincts
Persuade
a friend to go with you at first, or at least to come and watch
your first few classes
If you have
any doubts, leave - there are many more classes you can try